flossyboyYou don't need a "gang" of equipment to make some banging azz tracks.....especially if you are sampling...cause "hopefully" what you are sampling is already mixed and mastered material, so the sound quality should already be tight.

You just have to learn the equipment that you got, and experiment with all kinds of knobs, faders, mod wheels, pitch bend wheels, etc.

If you really think about it, all you need a some Keys and some Drums. Most keyboards now days have almost every other instrument synthezied in them. They might not sound real but it will give you a start. I'm about to put yall on to something............How many of yall know somebody that plays in a high school band??????? Go peep the band out, holla at some of the "first chair" players(those are the "so-called" better players, playing their respective instrument), record them and experiment.

It's all about experimenting......DJ Screw didn't come up with screw because he knew it would sound tight, he just experimented until he found something he liked, then it just caught wind.

Hi_D_Ho_ManI'm sure those are the "main ingredients" that he's willing to share with us.

If that was his complete kit, you'd have to assume that all he uses are samples. No tone generators at all. Doubt it. I'm sure he uses other sounds, be it live muscians softsynths or what ever at least for his bass if nothing else .

My guess is those are his dirty down tools. Not to mention a professional engineer at his disposal.

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OBCDU know, Kanye's rollin' wit Jay-Z so I don't think he has to post-product anything. I think that's a waste of time when you're in his position and can afford someone wit real talent do this for you...

LAZICan't lie... Feels good to know cats can build off what I learned...

But no doubt... Even at the gold/platinum level it's still mainly the ideas that make a beat or song a good one. Not the gear.... Top knotch execution (the expensive gear and pro help) just makes shit feel better on the ears though I think... But yeah the ASR-10/MPC2000 combo is a very versatile setup and if learned you can sample a zillion sources and create some form of unique sounds including the speed up samples. Hmmm... Can't say I ever really thought about chopping samples with the 1680 but hell it could be done pretty easy when I think on it. Even add some nice efx... Hell with those tools then you'd basically have everything you need except for the sounds and the creativity. Enter the tables, time, and finger tips....

On the real that setup is the one almost anybody would say or use to be down with the "real hip hop" heads. Plus it just really is all you'd need to do some music. As far as synths and sped up samples both the ASR-10 and the MPC2000 are very capable of playing the roll without cats even knowing what's what. Shit I even know how to slow down or sped up and time stretch a sample with my 1680 alone... Then say you're are in a top notch facility to track your shit and there is a hole or a missing layer in your new platinum hit... The cats mixing it will probably find a way to fill it up even if it does means bringing the TRITON in from over in studio z.

I'll say this... That's all I would need to make a nice track. Just knowing the gear makes up for ton of knobs and special features any day. Then it's really up to natural creative talent....

FatMannI honestly think this and maybe this is backwards But I have made some wild track with out MP. or asr... Tru it would be SO butta to have. but I know fo these pockets I can grab them joints like the next man . But one day I will ... anyways my point is I think to sound different you have to use different things .. Most tracks I have I made sounds in my sound Modules and save em to reuse them again.. and it works
I am in VA and out here if you do tracks you have to sound like Pharrel or Knots, timbo whateva them kats to be marketable. but i think you can create you own sound that sets you different everyone is using samples ,speed up and slowed down tracks ,computers and all. I mean I sell my tracks like the next man but I like to sound different it make the artist work harder, and sound "creative" if they can write to a whistle and a breeze in the background they its like whoa thats hot.....
But i honest think the music game needs something needs somthing different. Like what I am working on now is changin your beat signature , or going from 4/4 to 3/4 Yo stuff like that .. just to be like ... what the freak is that type of pattern..

chalin27Man I just got a DJX, soundfonts and acid and I think my shit is okay. Yall don't even want to see my setup for mixing. Just master your art and you can create hotness. I agree with what you all say.

PoetSleep00as far as "drum kits" you can customize your own. With Soundforge and a zip drive, and the MPC editor,you can load up sounds and twist them in SF, then transer them to your mpc. You don't have to settle for second rate drum kits if you have a computer with a good sound editor and soundcard attached. You can import and freak the sounds to your hearts content.

blisstifulso is sound forge a good editor or somthing?
Kenye no only has a brother whos a real musician and does alot of those bass & guitar licks he also has an very talented engineer and a large amout of samples acces to an ssl or close your mixer and efx quality have alot to do with the sound of your samples when your in the industry you use what you call industry standerd or perferd products tritons mpcs 5080s akai z's nord etc his samples are a rare choice having acces to audio editers and eqs that can virturaly eliminate background audio from a vocal trk or strings or whats ever world class stuff

distortedrumbleblisstiful hit on something...add some flavor to your beats and mixes by having real instruments and not just keys you hit on the triton.. alot of times i come up with some good shit just messing around on guitar or bass. and sampling is all well and good but if you can rerecord all the instruments in the sample with live instruments....its brings some good to the mix...and technically its still sampling

blisstifulmpcs and asr10's are nothing more than drums pads with a seq inside that are limited on sounds. and there are some sounds that are only found in one place, that module or instrument that makes it; the movie or marcto strings on this board or module wont sound like the ones on another because of programming how its sampled or generated the hardware its self and how the triggering is set up wich goes into response/release time etc. and the only way your going to get the live bass licks you want is to have a player do it for you while you sample or youll have to make the track around your limitations